Portuguese companies and scientists are participating in the second European EnVision mission to orbit Venus, scheduled to launch in 2031 and which will study the surface and interior of the planet, as well as its atmosphere.
The mission was approved on Thursday by the European Space Agency (ESA), which in practice means that the study phase is completed and implementation continues.
Astrophysicist Pedro Machado, a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences (IA), who has published studies on the atmosphere of Venus, told Lusa this Friday that he will be in charge of one of the scientific instruments of the new European probe that will orbit Venus. , in this case an infrared spectrograph, which will allow us to determine, for example, whether there is volcanic activity on the planet.
The researcher will lead a Portuguese scientific consortium to support the mission, which will include astrophysicists, geologists and geographers.
Astrophysicist Clara Sousa-Silva, who was part of the international team of scientists that announced in 2020 the discovery of phosphine in the clouds of Venus, a gas that on Earth is naturally produced by bacteria, which are living organisms, will also collaborate with the Portuguese team in the scientific field. but in the field of astrobiology, which studies the origin of life.
Pedro Machado said that Portuguese industry will also participate in the EnVision mission through the companies LusoSpace and FHP, which will be responsible in particular for instrument alignment testing and the production of components for instrument fittings.
EnVision is the successor to Europe’s Venus Express space mission, which carried a probe into orbit studying the planet’s atmosphere between 2006 and 2014.
The Japanese Akatsuki mission continues to study the atmosphere of Venus, the closest planet to Earth.
Although similar in size and mass to Earth, Venus is inhospitable, with an average surface temperature of 464°C and an atmospheric pressure 92 times higher than that of the “blue planet.”
Of all the rocky planets in the solar system, Venus has the densest atmosphere and is completely covered by layers of thick clouds consisting mainly of sulfuric acid.
Portugal has been an ESA member state since November 2000.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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